Boston: Body Treatments

The lobby of the Andrew Michaels Spa & Salon is all rich wood floors and Brahmin pedigree. The treatment room, though, could be a four-star dungeon with its stone floors and mysterious horizontal pipe suspended over a long, shallow tub. We stretched out in the empty tub as our aesthetician massaged our body with a cranberry-enzyme-and-cornmeal mixture. She fiddled with the overhead contraption, which she explained was a Vichy shower, and left us to doze. The soothing effects of that shower lasted into the next day. Turns out the only torture that took place in that dungeon was leaving.

Several weeks of business travel left us desperate for some downtime. From the moment we climbed upon the toasty treatment bed, reality slipped away, replaced by the rhythmic motions of our therapist's kneading hands, the slippery sensation of an algae mask, and the soft flicker of candlelight. After a warm shower and a final massage with a thick, buttery balm, all that frequent flying seemed miles away.

Sam Chiang

One-hour Tui Na Massage, $7534 Batterymarch St. 617-451-2225

From the moment we walked into Backworks's doctor's-office-like lobby, we were disappointed. We'd booked a Tui Na massage—a rubdown based on principles of Chinese medicine. Chiang wrapped our lower body in warm towels, then pressed the pressure points in our back. "This stimulates circulation," he said. He did free us of knots from shoulders to waist, but the only thing that got our blood flowing was the fact that our massage ignored the rest of our body. We walked out with legs and arms as achy as they were before.

Trina Holland

We're not usually one for cutesy names, but we decided to overlook the fact that this small suburban salon calls its Brazilian "The Martini Delight." That said, we also chickened out at the salon and switched to a regular wax, fearing that pregnancy had left our skin too sensitive for a marathon session. Holland, a six-year waxing veteran, didn't mind the switch and got to work with a hard wax she promised would be as gentle as possible. She applied the strips and whisked the hairs away so quickly that we steeled ourself for the worst— but it hardly hurt. No damage to our skin, no redness, and no ingrown hairs? If we weren't about to have a baby, we'd
certainly drink to that.

With its offerings of frankincense and myrrh, this aromatherapy treatment reads like something out of a Christmas pageant. Fitting, really, since our tight shoulders and aching back were practically in need of divine intervention. Our massage therapist slicked her palms with the musky stuff and got to work on our lumbar region, locating knots with her fingers and dislodging every kink. She used long, fluid strokes on our legs and arms, but it wasn't until she moved farther north, gently rubbing and rotating our neck, that we got a whiff of the spicy scent. Still, our shoulders felt light for the first time in months. Rejoice.

Rachel Muniz

Michelle Falasca

Spray Tan, $50125 Charles St.617-391-0494

Falasca certainly delivered when it came to customer service, taking us ten minutes early and offering tips for maintaining our color. She even humored us by laughing at our jokes. But seriously: Her clear formula produced a pretty, golden brown shade.

After moving into a new house and spending a week unloading boxes, we decided some pampering was in order. So we booked a massage at this ornate spa—not realizing we were in for yet another ordeal. Our session began with a lengthy survey, followed by a bizarre breathing exercise ("Hold your spleen and say, 'Gong'"). But things instantly improved when our therapist started rubbing, stroking, and pressing our aching muscles until every knot relented. Next time, we'll skip the kooky orientation and ask to get to the good stuff faster than anyone can say, well, "Gong."

Kelly Conway

Sunless tanning, $50781-249-5720

When Conway showed up at our apartment for an afterwork appointment, she set up a pop-up tent and an airbrush machine in our living room. Being a spray-tan virgin, we begged her not to make us look orange for a friend's wedding. She kindly promised to go easy on the tan, then sprayed us limb by limb with two light dustings of tinted color. The lemongrass-scented formula was a nice surprise, as were the three minutes it took for our skin to dry. But the true marvel was paying such a reasonable price for a house call. Our sun-kissed results were worth twice as much.